All for One
by Nicene
Summary: How did Tank die? An answer to the quesion. In his POV.


Title: All for one  
  
Author: Nicene  
  
Rating: PG-13 for Language and of course violence.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of The Matrix or it's characters. But, I do own this story and the ideas that go with it. So please, don't steal it.  
  
Spoilers: The Matrix  
  
Summery: How did Tank die? An answer to the question. In his POV.  
  
Thanks: Oh, where to begin? First, to my friend Tru, for inspiration. Second, to my little brother, who provided me with info, including an argument on clips and magazines. Third, to my beta Trin (thru the looking glass). Much of this story came from her ideas, and without them, I guarantee this story would bore you to death. BIG, BIG, thanks to her.  
  
Author's Note: You should know that much of this story is recapping the movie. This is because 1) a four-page story would be lame, 2) you get more thoughts, and 3) it ties in with the ending. So, I don't want to hear anything about it!!! Thanks you. Word of advice: Staying up till 3:00 AM watching J.I. Jane, really does work if you need to get inspired. Okay then. Read my story and, of course, review me. Believe it or not, your reviews mean a ton to me.  
  
***  
  
Cypher ruined my life.  
  
Dozer had tried to save me, but Cypher ended up blowing a hole square into his chest.  
  
As I lay down on the ground, I was forced to witness the painful murders of my friends. Switch, Apoc, Mouse. If I knew what was coming, I would've never unplugged Cypher. I had watched him talk to Morpheus' unconscious body, each word like a bullet, piercing my already broken heart. I felt pointless, lying there like deadweight, unable to move my body. My purpose eventually aroused, when I heard Cypher getting ready to unplug Neo. With the last of my strength, I grabbed an EMP gun and steadied myself against a pole. I wasn't going to let that happen. That bastard didn't notice me, because he was to busy talking to Trinity.  
  
"You never did answer me before," he said, "All I want is a yes or no. Look into his eyes ... those big, pretty eyes, and tell me: yes or no."  
  
Instinctively, I knew the answer before Trinity even said it.  
  
"Yes." My gun clanked against the metal, bringing Cypher's eyes toward me.  
  
"No! I don't believe it," he said, obviously in disbelief.  
  
"Believe it or not you piece of shit, you're still gonna burn," I spat at him. The gun was ready and I fired. Cypher screamed as he flew backward and crashed into some pipes. He was dead.  
  
I ran to put my headset back on and soon I had the hardline up again. When Trinity answered the phone, she let out a sigh of relief as I unplugged her. She turned to look at me, but her eyes fell down to my side.  
  
"Tank, you're hurt," she said, her voice full of concern and worry.  
  
"I'll be okay," I answered, even though the pain hurt like absolute hell.  
  
"Dozer?" she asked. I could feel my eyes begin to water like a leak in one of Zion's water main pipes. I wasn't about to let Trinity see that. I lowered my head. Trinity pulled me close to her and hugged me. Trinity was like a sister to me, so as she hugged me, it made me feel better. We hurried over to unplug Neo.  
  
Within minutes, the three of us had covered all the bodies. Neo was watching Morpheus' body, which was covered with sweat.  
  
"What are they doing to him?" He asked.  
  
"They're breaking into his mind. It's like hacking a computer. All it takes is time," I replied, sadly.  
  
"How much time?"  
  
"Depends on the mind," I began, "Eventually, it will crack and his alpha pattern will change form this to this," I punched a few numbers on Morpheus's screen... His patterns changed.  
  
"What do they want anyway?" Neo's deep voice questioned.  
  
"The leader of every ship is giving access codes to Zion's mainframe. If an Agent got inside, they could destroy us." I looked at Trinity: "We can't let that happen. Zion is more important then me or you or even Morpheus."  
  
Neo seemed overwhelmed: "There has to be something we can do."  
  
I looked into Neo's eyes. I couldn't explain what I saw, but I could tell there was something going on in his head. What was that? Perhaps a plan?  
  
"There is." I said calmly: "We pull the plug." At my words, Trinity spun around.  
  
"You're going to kill him? Kill Morpheus?!" I could tell there was anger in her eyes.  
  
"There's nothing else we can do." I responded quietly. I bent down and knelt beside Morpheus.  
  
"Morpheus, you were more then our leader. You were our father. We will miss you, always," I closed my eyes and curled my fingers around his pugs. I was getting ready to pull, when Neo spoke up.  
  
"Stop! God, this can't be happening," he shouted. Trinity and I looked at him.  
  
"Neo, this has to be done," I said. I know that, Trinity knows that, you should too.  
  
"Does it?" he asked, "This can't be just coincidence. It can't be!" He shook his head, as if he was trying to figure out what had just hit him.  
  
"What are you talking about?" I asked him. He looked slightly confused, like he was running everything through his head.  
  
"The Oracle. She told me this would happen. She told me that I would have to make a choice."  
  
"What choice?" a confused and worried Trinity asked him. Neo didn't answer. He turned away and began walking toward his chair.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked him.  
  
"I'm going in." Neo replied flatly.  
  
"You can't!"  
  
"I have to."  
  
"Morpheus sacrificed himself so we could get you out. There's no way you're going back in," she shouted at him. Her eyes burned with anger.  
  
"Morpheus did what he did because he believed I'm something I'm not."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm not the one, Trinity," Neo said. I looked over at Trinity. The look on her face was indescribable. She looked almost hurt.  
  
"No, Neo. That's not true. It can't be true." Trinity's voice had a slight tremor in it  
  
"Why?" he asked. I knew Trinity couldn't answer him. She bit her lower lip and turned away. I jumped in.  
  
"Neo, this is loco. They've got him in a military-controlled building. Even if you got inside, those are Agents who have him. Three of them! I want Morpheus back too, but what you're talking about is suicide." There. I had said it. I figured that was a good enough excuse to stop him.  
  
Then Neo answered back to my astonishment:  
  
"I know that's what it looks like, but it's not. Morpheus believed something and he was ready to give his life for what he believed. I understand that now. That's why I have to go."  
  
I couldn't say anything.  
  
"What?" Trinity spoke up.  
  
"I believe I can save him," Neo told us. With that, he turned away and punched buttons on his screen. Trinity walked next to him and punched buttons on her chair too. I sighed. First, we lose our friends. Then Morpheus... now them. Well, this is turning out to be a real swell day.  
  
"What are you doing?" Neo asked her.  
  
"I'm coming with you."  
  
"No you're not." -Oh, bad move, Neo, I thought - He obviously doesn't know what happens to Trinity when she's provoked, even, if it is for her own protection...  
  
"No? Let me tell you what I believe" Trinity spat at him, "I believe Morpheus means more to me then he does to you. I believe that if you're really serious about saving him, your going to need my help, and since I am the ranking officer on this ship, if you don't like it; I believe you can go to hell, 'cause your not going anywhere else."  
  
Neo looked stunned.  
  
"Tank, load us up." Trinity said to me.  
  
I sighed again and help them both get plugged in. This is never gonna work, I thought. I hit the load button, sending them free into the construct.  
  
"So..." I began "What do you need? Besides a miracle..."  
  
"Guns." Neo said "Lots of guns."  
  
I hit the load button and rack and rack of weapons came rushing toward them. I shook my head: Guns, those won't help one bit.  
  
I climbed out of my chair and knelled beside Morpheus:  
  
"Hold on, Morpheus. They're coming for you."  
  
The ship was quiet for about fifteen minutes. I was going between watching them and making sure Morpheus was okay. The silence was suddenly broken when my headset rang.  
  
"Operator" I quickly said.  
  
"Tank," - It was Trinity: " I need a pilot program for a B-212 helicopter. -Hurry." I looked through my disks and pulled it out. As quick as I could, it was shoved into my computer and the information was surging to Trinity's brain. They walked off to the helicopter.  
  
More action then I had ever seen happened in the next few minutes. I watched as Trinity flew the helicopter while neo emptied an entire clip of bullets. Unbelievable. Neo had taken down three Agents. I saw Morpheus get up and run to the window- just as an Agent opened the door. Shit. Morpheus was shot, and his run was reduced to a stumble. Oh god, he's gonna fall. But Neo had other plans. He jumped out of the helicopter, attached to the rope, and grabbed hold of Morpheus before he could fall. I couldn't believe it. It really was a miracle... but now the helicopter was going down.  
  
Neo dropped Morpheus and was sliding across the rooftop. Well, this is it - I thought - Neo and Trinity are going to be pulled down by the helicopter. I couldn't bear to watch. I was about to turn away, when I saw something amazing: Trinity was holding onto the rope, still connected to Neo. The helicopter exploded in an array of fire, while Trinity smashed into shatterproof glass. Neo quickly pulled her up. I felt my mouth drop.  
  
"I knew it! He's the one," -I whispered to myself. I was still shaking my head when the phone rang.  
  
"Operator?"  
  
"Tank," Morpheus said. I smiled.  
  
"Goddamn, it's good to hear your voice sir." I smiled.  
  
"...We need a exit."  
  
"Got one ready. Subway. State and Balbo."  
  
"We're on our way." He said. I sat back relieved: I figured everything would go smoothly, so I waited for Morpheus to exit. A few minutes went by until I saw them running into the station. When he did, I unplugged him; and we hugged briefly. I looked over at the code, which now looked funny to me. Then it hit me: an Agent.  
  
Morpheus unplugged Trinity, who had just exited.  
  
"Neo..." She breathed.  
  
"What the hell just happened?" I shouted, typing like crazy on the keyboard.  
  
"An Agent." she said.  
  
I was right.  
  
"You have to send me back," she pleaded.  
  
"I can't!" I said, still watching the code. The Agent had shot the phone: there was no way I could get her there in time. Trinity, Morpheus and I reduced ourselves to simply watch the code... there was nothing left for us to do to help the confused brown-eyed guy.  
  
"Run. Neo, run." Trinity said. When he didn't, she was confused: "What's he doing?"  
  
"He's beginning to believe." Morpheus sighted.  
  
No, he's beginning to lose his mind, I thought. Trinity ran over and stood above Neo, watching his patterns. Neo's body jerked against its harness, while in the Matrix, the Agent was punching Neo's body mercilessly.  
  
Time passed slower then ever before. Neo had escaped the Agent and was making his way out of the subway station when suddenly, everything went wrong. The proximity lights flashed bright red. Shit! Morpheus and Trinity exchanged glances and raced up the ladder. I wasn't sure what was happening until Morpheus radioed me. "Tank, charge the EMP." - Morpheus, you can't use that until he's out. I questioned Morpheus' thoughts. Neo had better call soon.  
  
My headset rang.  
  
"Mr. Wizard, get me the hell out of here." He shouted as he ran up a street.  
  
Mr. Wizard?  
  
"I've got a patch on an old exit. Wabash and Lake. A hotel. Room 303." Neo spun around into an alley. He looked around, terrible lost.  
  
"Uh, help! Need a little help!"  
  
"The door." Neo kicked it in. He ran through the hallway.  
  
"The door on your left," I stated quickly. He tuned to the right. Dunderhead. "No, your other left!" Neo dived through the door and jumped off a balcony. He landed in a pile of garbage.  
  
"That's it, you're almost there." I said "That fire escape at the end of the alley." Neo ran again and I began to load the exit.  
  
Then, for a second time, everything went wrong.  
  
The proximity lights flashed again. That meant only one thing. Here they came...  
  
The hull of the Neb was soon breached. - Oh, this is bad.  
  
I looked at the screen: Neo was running through the hall. Room 305...304...  
  
My gaze was frozen. Agent Smith had beaten Neo to the exit. I heard Neo's flatline alarm go off, while in the Matrix, Agent Smith shot Neo. Morpheus stood behind me and we both sat there in disbelief. This...can't be happening... (Or maybe, this can't be... be what?... be real.) My thoughts raced.  
  
Neo was dead and there was nothing we could do about it.  
  
It was over.  
  
My hand reached for the EMP switch and-  
  
Neo's monitor snapped back to life.  
  
I watched the code. "How...?" I questioned.  
  
Morpheus' answer was simple: "He is the one."  
  
I was amazed. I believed that Morpheus was going to find the One, but I didn't actually realize it until that moment. It took a few minutes for reality to sink it. The sentinels were still attacking our ship... I heard Trinity scream Neo's name and I saw Morpheus turn the EMP switch. The sentinels died and only we were left in the darkness.  
  
I jumped out of my chair and ran over to Neo and Trinity. They were kissing. I grinned. -Well, our ship may be destroyed, but at least Neo and Trinity are happy. When they softly broke the kiss, and the spell, I walked over to Neo. We were smiling at each other when he suddenly gathered me in a hug. I was surprised, but willingly accepted. We he let me go, his fingers brushed against my side.  
  
"OW!" I yelled. I crippled over in pain, and Trinity pulled her arm around me, calling for Morpheus.  
  
"We have to get Tank help. This is looking pretty bad," She said.  
  
"Trinity," Morpheus replied, "...it could take a few hours to repair our ship."  
  
"Morpheus, I don't care how long it takes. Tank needs help right now!" Morpheus knew better then to argue with Trinity. He sighed.  
  
"Alright, but we'll have to make do with what we have. Bring him here." Trinity helped me hobble over to the mess hall's table. I laid down on top of it. Neo and Trinity stood around me as Morpheus examined me.  
  
"Trinity, I need to talk to you. Neo, keep Tank company." Morpheus said, as he and Trinity left the room. I don't really remember what Neo and I talked about, but it must have been short, because within a minute, Morpheus and Trinity were back in the room. Morpheus nodded to Trinity, then pulled Neo out of the room with him. Trinity sat next to me.  
  
"Tank, I need to tell you something..." she said quietly "You're dying." Those words hit me like lightning.  
  
"Dying?"  
  
"Yes," she said, "You've been infected. We cannot fix it."  
  
"Oh..." I replied, "Well then, I guess that's okay."  
  
Trinity hugged me. "Morpheus believes you have only about two more days to live." I looked at her. It almost looked like she had tears in her eyes, but I wasn't sure. "I'll be in later." she told me and left.  
  
The days past quickly. My condition worsened and even though we had made it to Zion, there was nothing they could do either. A few hours before my death, I spent time with my loved ones.  
  
Morpheus came to talk to me first. He said I was a wonderful person and that he was sorry to see me go. I smiled at him. Crazy, old Morpheus had fulfilled his dream. The prophecy was true. I was happy to see it. He also told me that my sister, Zee, sends her love. Morpheus said it was all too depressing for her and that she wasn't able to see me. I understood that. Zee was always like that, even, when we were younger...  
  
Neo came and saw me second.  
  
"Neo," I said, "...I'm glad you tuned out to be the one."  
  
"Thanks, Tank. --- I guess I'm happy too." He tenderly smiled at me.  
  
"Neo, you're going to end the war. I know you will. Never give up on that." I told him, and then added, "And when the war does end, have a long drink of Zion liquor for me."  
  
"Okay." he said and sent in Trinity.  
  
"Trin" I began "I have something I want to ask you."  
  
"How did Neo come back to life?"  
  
She showed me her most fragile smile ever: "I told him about my visit to the Oracle."  
  
"You did? But you said you'd never tell him."  
  
"I know. It just felt like the right time." Her smile grew bigger.  
  
I smiled back at her: "Take good care of him for me, will you?"  
  
"I promise." She sighted.  
  
And then it happened. My mind snapped and everything became dark. I shut my eyes, turned my head over, and then all the pain faded.  
  
***  
  
Lights, everywhere. Damn, they were bright. I shielded my eyes. When I opened them, I saw everyone. Dozer, Mouse, Apoc, Switch. They were all there. Dozer spread his arms out to me and I seemed to float over.  
  
I was, finally... home.  
  
***  
  
THE END!!!! Please review me now!!! ~Nicene~ 


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